The metres are intended to cut down on energy waste.
East Indian state of Bihar will receive 1.3 million NB-IoT smart metres thanks to a cooperation between Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecommunications company, and Secure Metres. With the use of NB-IoT services, this deployment will enable families in the state to use less energy.
According to Airtel, this deployment would be the country’s first NB-IoT solution on a narrow band with a fall-back option that will support 2G and 4G, ensuring continuous transfer of vital data and real-time connection. The 3GPP created NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT), a low-power, wide-area radio network technology that enables a range of IoT devices and services, including smart metres.
Secure Metres is an energy efficiency solution provider with operations in Australia, Bangladesh, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The firm was founded in Udaipur, India, in 1987.
In addition to its advanced IoT platform, “The Airtel IoT Hub,” which has been tailored to meet the needs of Advance Metering Infrastructure Service Providers (AMISPs), Airtel claims that its NB-IoT platform is “future-ready” and expandable to 5G. Customer life cycle management, advanced analytics tools including diagnostics, live session check, and real-time data utilisation are additional features.
“IoT is one of the fastest-growing business segments for Airtel Business,” said Ajay Chitkara, director and CEO of Airtel Business. “This venture into NB-IoT strengthens our credentials as the largest cellular IoT player in the country and places us firmly as a partner of choice for Discoms looking to invest in smart meters. We look forward to being an active player in India’s energy transition.”